Tanzania Women Bank clients assured of safety following banks’ merger
TPB Bank Chief Executive Officer Mr Sabasaba Moshingi
What you need to know:
TWB, which was established to specifically serve the business interests of women was recently merged with TPB following orders of the Bank of Tanzania.
Dar es Salaam. TPB Bank Chief Executive Officer Mr Sabasaba Moshingi has assured clients of the merged Tanzania Womens Bank (TWB) of continued provision of tailor made services by the new institution.
TWB, which was established to specifically serve the business interests of women was recently merged with TPB following orders of the Bank of Tanzania.
TPB formerly known as Tanzania Post Bank earlier merged with Twiga Bancorp, another of the government owned bank that was struggling to remain afloat. TWB too was seen as unsuitable in the situation it was currently before the merger.
TWB thus becomes the second bank in two months to merge with TPB Bank, after Twiga Bancorp which was put under Statutory Management of BoT on October 28, 2016. Both TWB and Twiga Bancorp were suffering serious undercapitalization.
“I am optimistic the merging of the banks will create one strong and efficient financial entity which will guarantee customers better services as well as promote financial inclusion,” Mr Moshingi told reporters Friday, August 3, 2018, at a press conference.
He said all clients deposits are “safe”, adding that the merger move is an opportunity to bring banking services closer to the people, particularly those in rural areas.
With two TWB’s branches and those formerly owned by Twiga Bancorp, TPB Bank now has a total of 81 branches.
Mr Moshingi said similarly to what happened during the merger with Twiga Bancorp, customer deposits, employees, assets and debts of TWB have been consolidated to TPB Bank’s.
“We are aware that TWB was a bank that dedicated most of its efforts in serving women and ensuring that they acquired the appropriate knowledge and financial support to enable them access loans and utilize to improve their businesses,” he said.
“We will ensure we continue to offer them these services by dedicating a special window for women in all of our branches.”
The CEO expounded that TWB customers will continue to be served in their branches for about two months, paving the way for transferring their information into TPB Bank’s core banking system.
They will also continue wusing the Umpja switch Automated Teller Machine (ATM).
“I want to assure the government and the public at large that we will continue to ensure that the bank is run efficiently and profitably so that we continue to offer quality financial service to the unbanked population,” said Mr Moshingi.
The TPB Bank’s financial statement for the first half of the current calendar year shows that the bank’s net profit slipped by 48.6 per cent to Sh5.3 billion during the first half of 2018 compared to Sh10.9 billion that was registered during a similar period last year.
The negative performance is attributed to the rise of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) to 8.35 per cent of its total gross loans in June 2018 from 5.05 per cent in March this year.
